Wire guide



5. B. SCOTT WIRE GUIDE Filed Mar'ch 18, 1949 Sept. 22, 1953 Inventor:Benjamin B/Scott,

His Attorney,

strands along the winding axis. along this axis'can be caused by initialnonperpendicularity of the pulley pitch line with respect to its axis ofrotation. Circumferential -wear on the pulley axle causes a progressivecause a cumulative axial displacement.

Patented Sept. 22, 1953 WIRE GUIDE Benjamin B. Scott, Schenectady, N.Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New YorkApplication March 18, 1949, Serial No. 82,112

4 Claims.

My invention relates to apparatus for guiding a moving wire or likestrand.

"length of the whole resistance, so that great care is taken toplace-the turns as the resistance is wound. For accuracy, a wire guidemust be :placed asclose as possible to the resistance being wound;

When resistance wire is wound upon a cylindrical supporting member, thepath of the wire being wound from the guide is a straight line tangentto the supporting member, but when wire is wound upon flat supportingmembers the wire at the supporting member oscillates in a directionperpendicular to the winding axis as the supporting member is rotated.To allow for this oscillation, a winding guide to be positioned "closeenough to the member to be effective must be in the form of a pulley ora slot.

Pulleys have proven less satisfactory than is desired for guides for thewinding of strands of elongated material because of severalcharacteristics, all of which result in displacement of Displacementsimilar axial error in the pulley pitch line. Initial tolerance inpulley shaft length and wear on the end of a pulley shaft also combineto All of these displacements are additive and result in inaccuracy ofplacement of resistance turns by a pulley guide. As opposed to pulleys,slot guides allow no movement in the direction of the winding axis ifconstructed with an opening equal to the nominal overall dimension ofthe wire strand plus insulation but an oversize wire section jams inaslot constructed with such an opening and breaks the wire.

The objectof my invention is to'provide a guide that can be mountedclose to the resistance being wound and that will direct the strand toits winding position without movement in the direction of the windingaxis despite movement of the strand perpendicular to the winding axisand despite variation in overall cross-section of the strand.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of anembodiment of my invention in its relative position of mounting withrespect to a wire winding machine; Fig. 2 is a partial view of a'section2-4 looking in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is anenlarged view of section 2-2 showing the passage through the device of alength of wire strand having a greater than nominal diameter.

Referring to the diagram, the wire I, maintained under tension to keepit taut, passes from a reel (not shown) over the pulley-2 pivoted on thewinding head 3 of the winding machine '4 operated by the motor 4a andprovided with the gear box 42). The motor is connected through thegearing in the box 41) to turn a card 5 about its longitudinal centerline as a winding axis. As the wire is wound on the supporting member orcard 5, the winding head 3 is moved along by the lead screw .6 of thewinding machine operated by a separate motor means (not shown) toposition each new turn being wound. An arm 1 of the winding head 3slides along the guide member 8.

The rectangular bars 9 and ID are adjacently mounted on the plate IIwhich is adjustably mounted on the base l2, of the winding head 3. Thebolts l2 threaded into the base l2 project through the slots ll so thatthe plate H can be adjusted up or down the length of the slots II toconform with the widths of the resistances being wound before the boltsare tightened to hold plate I l in place.

The sides of the slot l3 between the bars are formed by the flatsurfaces l4 and [5 of the bars. Equal bevel surfaces It and I1,oppositely extending more than half the width of the bars, relieve theslot sides between the spacers l8 and I9 mounted near the ends of thebars.

Insulated wire is designated by a nominal diameter of the metal of thewire and it has a corresponding nominal thickness of insulation.

Both nomina1 wire diameters and nominal insulation thicknesses aresubject to tolerances. Inthis application "normal diameter will be usedfor the overall diameter of a bare wire of actual diameter equaltonominal diameter and of an insulated wire having an actual diameterequal to nominal diameter and covered with an insulation of nominalthickness. The spacers l8 and I9 separate the surfaces l4 and IS adistance 20 slightly greater than the normal diameter of the wire beingwound and form the ends of the slot l3. The bevel surfaces It and I! arespaced apart a distance 2| which is greatscrew guided by the surfaces l4and [5 without movement in the direction of the winding axis as shown inFig. 2. A length of wire of less than normal diameter is directed. to aposition on the supporting member within the limits of the position thatwould be taken by a wire of normal diameter. A length of wire ofdiameter 23 greater than normal diameter can pass through the bars witha slight bend as shown in Fig. 3. As it leaves the guide as shown by 23'and is positioned upon thesupporting member; its centeris. displaced bya distance equal. to one half vthe amount by which the wire diameter isoversize. The arrows 20' and 23 show the relative positions of a normaldiameter wire section and of, an oversize wire section leaving theguide.

While I have shown a particular embodiment ,ofmy invention, it will beunderstood, of course,

that I do not wish to be limited thereto since vmany modifications canbe made, and I therefore contemplate by the appended claims-to cover anysuch: modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope ofmyinvention.

What I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United,States is:

1-..A winding device having, in combination, winding means to wind wireon a supporting gmember and-a guiding: device provided with a slot forguiding said wire to a predetermined position 0112 said: membercomprising a plate mounted uponthe winding head; ofv said winding means,:said plate being provided with mounting means adjustable for the widthofsaid supporting member, rectangular bars forming the sides of said=slotvadjacently mounted upon-said plate and disposed perpendicularlytothe axis of. rotation ofsaid member and spacers forming the. endsiofsaid. slot mounted between said bars and near the ends of. said bars tospace apart the facing surfaces of said. bars a distance slightlygreater than the normal diameter of the wire being wound said bars beingprovided with beveled relief surfaces between said spacers extendinganorethan half the widthof saidbars:and disposed oppositely along saidwire, said beveled surfaces being. spaced apart a distance. greater thansaid normale diameter and the portions of said facing surfaces betweensaid spacers being separated along said wire a distance greater thanvsaid normal diameter, to allow lengths of wire having diameters greaterthan said normal diameter. to pass through said device;

} 2;. A, wire guide. for directing moving taut wire to a predeterminedposition upon a supporting member inv combination with a winding machine1 winding. resistance wire upon said supporting member comprising a.plate mounted upon the winding head ofsaid winding machine, said platebeing provided with mounting holes. elongated in a directionperpendicular to the winding axis of said machine for adjustmentaccording to the width of said supporting member, a pair of rectangularbars adj acently mounted upon said plate disposed in a directionperpendicular to said winding axis and a pair of spacers mounted betweenand near the ends of said bars to maintain the facing surfaces of saidbars parallel and separated by a. distance slightly greater than thenormal diameter of saidmoving wire, the segments of said facing surfaceslying between said spacers forming the sides of a slot to guide saidwire into a predetermined position along said winding axis whileallowing movement of said wire perpendicular to said axis, said spacersforming the ends of said slot, said bars being provided with equal bevelsurfaces adjoining said sides extending oppositely along the directionof 'travel of said wire and separated by a distance greater than saidnormal diameter, said sides being separated along said wire a distancegreater than said normal diameter so that lengths of said wire ofdiameters up to said normal diameter pass through said slot and aredirected to a predetermined position upon said supporting member withinthe limits of the position that would be occupied by a wire length ofsaid normal diameter, and lengths of said wire of greater than saidnormal diameter are directed to positions upon said supporting memberwith minimum deflection along said winding axis.

3. In a wire winding machine, a guide of the slot type for positioningthe wire as it is wound comprising at least two members including. guidesurfaces defining a slot perpendicular to the axis of winding andtransverse to the direction of. wire travel, said guide surfacesrespectively lying in planes perpendicular. to the axis of winding, saidplanes having a fixed separation at least as great as the normal outerdiameter of the wire to be guided, said guide surfaces being displaced.from one another in the direction of wire travel in order to provide forpassage of wire sections of a diameter greater than said. fixedseparation 4..A resistor winding machine having a resistor wire guide ofthe slot type including two plane parallel guide surfaces perpendicularto the winding axis defining a slot transverse to the direction of thewire path, said guide surfaces having a fixed. separation in a directionperpendicular to the wire path at least as great as the. normal outerdimension of the wire to be guided and a separation alongthe directionof the wire path to. provide'for passageof wire sections of larger thannormal outer dimensions said guide being spaced in proximity totherotational path of the radially outermost portion of a support onwhich the wire is to be wound.

BENJAL'IIINB. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS

